2 New Developments on Keystone XL Pipeline Today

Two new twists today in the saga of the the Keystone XL Pipeline: Seven House Democrats came out in opposition to the pipeline, three environmental organizations filed suit in Nebraska to halt its construction.

In September, 5,000 small businesses from Green America’s business network and the Green Chamber of Commerce weighed in on the pipeline, sending a letter to President Obama urging him to focus on clean energy technologies and to reject a new Canadian tar sands pipeline that keeps us dependent on fossil fuels.

Extraction and refinement of oil sands are more greenhouse-gas intensive than conventional oil, with the EPA concluding that the Keystone XL project could yield as much as 1.15 billion tons of additional greenhouse gases. Plus, the pipeline travels through America’s agricultural heartland and could threaten the drinking water of 2 million people, in the event of a BP-style spill.

The State Department’s final public hearing on the project is coming up this Friday in Washington, DC.